Year 2 have had such an exciting day today!
We were all so excited to go on our first class trip since we went to Broadstairs in Year 1. We were going to be travelling by tube, all the way to the Tower of London! This in itself was so exciting, but we were all so well behaved and listened to our group leaders really well. Throughout the whole day, we took care of one another and treated those around us with so much respect and have hugely impressed our teachers!
In school, we have been learning so much about the Great Fire of London and have more recently started learning about the geography of London, and understanding different landmarks here. We have been reading Rosie Revere, Engineer and have learnt a lot about Tower Bridge so we were delighted to see it as we arrived at the Tower. After we made it safely to the Tower, it was time for lunch! Most of us were extremely happy to hear those words, even though it was only 11am! After we’d polished off our delicious lunches, we split up into smaller groups. Some of us went to see the ravens whilst some of us went to find out about the White Tower. On our worksheets, we had to find out who was responsible for the construction of the Tower and we were able to find out that it was William the Conqueror. Some of us even saw that it was originally completed in the year 1100! We were also tasked with finding out about the legend of the ravens, and we read that if the ravens leave the fortress, the Tower will fall!
After this, we had an experience about the Great Fire with a man from the 1600s called Master James. He spoke to us about Samuel Pepys and the fact that his diary is how we know so much about what happened during the event. We came together in a semi-circle to test the theory that writing down evidence stands the test of time, compared to the word of mouth. We started off with a phrase about Samuel Pepys and his parmesan cheese, but we ended up with 2026?! This really helped to understand the value of historical sources, and question how much we consider to be true based on inaccurate sources. We were taken into the White Tower, where we saw lots of amazing armoury and we went into a room with Master James where he began to tell us the tale of the Great Fire and how it started. We surprised him with how much we knew about the fire and even told him about our amazing assembly! We were reminded of Thomas Farriner, and the fact that the fire spread so quickly because of the materials that houses were made of, along with the fact that they were built so close together. We got to do a little bit of acting and thought about the way in which gunpowder (creating a fire-break) would have allowed some distance between homes, which eventually helped the fire to slow down. James then took us back outside to look at some original houses which are some of the few homes that were not destroyed by the flames. We learnt that this was because they, along with the Tower were actually in a safer position because they were east of the fire, and the wind was blowing west towards St Paul’s Cathedral! This useful piece of information actually reminded us of the recent work that we have been doing on compass directions in geography! We thanked Master James for his time and we then went off to look at another important historical memorial.
Whilst we know that we haven’t learnt about the Tudors yet, we know that this is one of our teacher’s favourite subject areas! We looked at the spot where it is believed that Queen Anne Boleyn was believed to be beheaded. We spoke about what this means and who Anne Boleyn was, in terms of history. We then moved swiftly towards where the Crown Jewels are housed. Outside here we saw some guards, which changed whilst we were there! Ms Rosellini, in particular, was very excited by this. We then went into the dark rooms where the Crown Jewels are kept and we saw beautiful jewels and we even saw St Edward’s Crown, which is used especially for coronations, so we’ll see it again in May when King Charles III is coronated. Did you know that the last time that we had a King Charles was actually during the Great Fire of London, in 1666?
Towards the end of our trip, we went to see Traitor’s Gate and the Bloody Tower. We spoke a little bit about some of the people believed to have come through the gate, whilst one of the entrances to the Tower was via boat. Whilst walking around the site, we spoke about the fact that the Tower is a fortress, and this is why we could see different canons all around! We also saw holes within the Tower walls, where they would shoot arrows from to protect the building. Lots of us were on the look out for wire animals, which are a reminder of the fact that the Tower was once a royal menagerie. We spotted a polar bear, which used to swim in the Thames, an elephant and some lions. What were the other animals that we saw?
On the way back to school, we had a quick exit at Baker Street as we were so close to the front of the train that the doors didn’t actually open! We had to be quick and careful to get to the third door of the train. Thankfully, kind members of the public helped our adults to hold the tube doors open so that we could all get off safely! We were all shattered by the time that we got back to school, but we can’t wait for our next trip!
We had such a fantastic day and learnt so much. We were able to share so much information about our learning and impressed the adults that came along with us. We would like to say a huge thank you to the parents that joined us, and to Mrs Hope, Ms Robertson and Ms Rosellini for all of their help and support – we are so grateful!
What was your favourite part of the day?
I hope you had a great time year 2!
Thank you all of year 2 for your exceptional behaviour on our trip today! I’m so impressed by all of you.
My favourite part was when we saw the ravens and I clapped and they mimicked the sound and rhythm (Mr Rees would be impressed!)
I loved this trip! it was really exciting!
I saw the Shard, Tower Bridge and we went to the Tower of London, thank you for taking us on this trip Miss Forster Adams and all the other teachers in year 2.
Best day ever!
Thank you everyone!
Xxx
That must be fun I hope you all enjoyed it and had a good time.
I have waited for this class trip to see the crown jewels and it was extremely beautiful and a precious moment. I will remember it till my next trip with my mum and dad:-)
Meeting the ravens was very fun:-)
Thank-you SV for organising and thank thank you to Miss Forster Adams and team.
I was very excited about this trip and it was fantastic. I learned a lot researching for my homework and there is so much history learned today. I am sharing it all with my brother, mum and dad.
They would like to visit it with me and I will the tour guide!
My favourite thing was seeing the crown jewels! Thank you for taking us there today!
I had a brilliant day at The Tower of London. It was my first time there. I couldn’t wait to get there! All the attractions were amazing!
Thank you so much to all teachers from Y2
XXX
What an amazing trip! Thank you teachers! Well done year 2 – your knowledge of the Great Fire of London was very impressive. You are a lovely kind class with really great teachers.
What a superb and enriching trip for everyone – even grown-ups!
Thank you for sharing such wonderful memories, and congratulations to you all.
I love 💗 the bit that we saw the bear 🐻 he was so cute 🥰 I am so happy 😁 thank you Miss Forster Adams and the parents and the other teachers.It was very fun playing the games with everyone in my class it was awesome 🤩.
i hope it was fun
I hope you all had fun !!!
Dear year 2,
You must have enjoyed your trip so much! I love visiting historical places.
That looks so much fun!!
I hope you had an amazing trip year 2! 💕
Thank you so much miss Forster Adams I loved the white tower yesterday and the crown 👑 jewels 💎 I also say a big thank you too all the great 👍 teachers 👩🏫 I had a great time at the Tower of London
I learnt that if the ravens leave the cage the white tower will collapse.
Thank you so much to all the great teachers xxx
You guys looked like you had an amazing time I hoped you guys enjoyed your trip.
I liked it when I saw the crown jewels because it’s so special to see the crown jewels. My Mum was impressed about the ravens because how big they were.
I found that lesson exiting.
I loved that day
It looks really fun and you went on the train!!
I enjoyed the trip very much. It was the best day of my life. It was very fun seeing the ravens because when we clapped to them they clapped back.
xxx
I had so much fun on this trip with you all and was so impressed with all your good listening too. I am a huge history lover so it was amazing to hear and see where so much history happened xx
My favourite part was when we went inside and acted out the great fire of London. I enjoyed it !